Thursday, March 24, 2011

CBS' Showtime pulling content from Netflix

CBS isn’t hiding the fact that it views Netflix as a potential threat, particularly the premium subscriber business. CBS, which owns Showtime, has recently decided to pull some of the premium network's programming from Netflix.

That's got to be painful for Netflix. Showtime has some of the most critically acclaimed programs on television. And now, shows like "Dexter" won't be available on Netflix after its deal with CBS/Showtime expires this summer.

This announcement comes on the heels of Netflix’s announcement of a deal to exclusively air the new first-run series, “House of Cards.” This marked the first time Netflix aired its own original content and was a vast departure from the company’s past business model.

Undoubtedly, Showtime saw this move to original content as a new direction for Netflix that put it more at odds with traditional premium subscription services.

This announcement didn't sever ties between CBS and Netflix completely, however. Last month the two announced a deal for CBS content that is no longer on the air to appear on the streaming video service.